Voice
Three - four high-pitched, metallic ringing notes. A rapid 'pit-choo', the second syllable descending quickly. Prolonged twittering when disturbed.
Nest
Bulky, loose, composed of grass, usually with a flimsy incomplete hood, lined with soft grass and sometimes a few feathers, placed in a lignum bush or in cane-grass clumps, usually not well-hidden.
Eggs (Guide)
2; white or with pink tinge, densely speckled or blotched with cinnamon-brown and red-brown, sometimes in a cap at the larger end; swollen-oval; about 19 x 15 mm. Incubation: probably 14 - 15 days; probably by female only.
Young
Altricial, nidicolous. Probably fledge in 12 - 14 days.
Subspecies
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
barbatus Favaloro & McEvey, 1968 - Caryapundy Swamp and Bulloo River Overflow on the Bulloo Range System, Qld and NSW.
diamantina Schodde & Christidis, 1987 - Lower reaches of Eyre Creek, Diamantina River and Cooper Creek Systems, Qld and SA.
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
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BirdLife International Species Factsheet